Phase transitions, stability, and dielectric response of the domain structure in ferroelectric-ferroelastic thin films

We present the first analytical study of phase transitions in ferroelastic-ferroelectric epitaxial thin films on exactly solvable model. The emerging domain structure with domains of equal width (which may be exponentially large on a “soft” substrate) always remains stable irrespective of the film thickness. The dielectric response of an epitaxial film is {\em smaller} than that of a free film, in striking contrast with assertions in the literature.